Amateur astronomer discovers large asteroid that flew by Earth this week

An amateur astronomer from Brazil discovered the large, "potentially hazardous" asteroid that safely passed by Earth this week on Thursday (Sept. 10).

The asteroid, called 2020 QU6, measures roughly 3,280 feet (1,000 meters) wide, or large enough to cause a global catastrophe if it were to hit Earth. However, it posed no risk to our planet as it travelled past the planet at a distance of more than 20 million miles (40 million kilometers), which is more than 100 times the distance between Earth and the moon, according to a statement from the Planetary Society.



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